# Strange rock

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Release date 3 March 2010 (Update) Yes No No No No 1 coin 0 coins 0 coins You will need to practice your non-combat skills to regain a piece of rock. Not reclaimable from gravestone Not sold Various (see below) 1 kg

A strange rock is an item from the Shattered Heart Distraction and Diversion. It may be found randomly while training any non-combat skill excluding Divination. Players may get two strange rocks per skill. The rocks are awarded at random per action or animation, so consider training a skill in a way that many quick animations are performed. When a player has received the first rock for a skill, the drop chance for the second will be reduced by about 50% (until a rock has been acquired from another skill). Each strange rock is a segment of the statue of Dahmaroc, a wizard from the Second Age. After the statue of Dahmaroc has been completed, players may then again get two strange rocks per non-combat skill to once again complete the statue. The first time a player completes the statue, they will be given a statue plinth by Barnabus Hurma to place in their player-owned house.

Players that try to add the strange rock to the plinth for the very first time will be stopped by Barnabus Hurma. By speaking to him and showing him the strange rock, he will then tell the player that they need to find its twin before adding it to the plinth. With the update on 19 August 2010, Barnabus Hurma will also give players a statue collection bag to store all collected strange rocks, thus freeing up space in the player's bank or inventory. Strange rocks do not stack in the bank, even if they are paired. If the player wishes not to receive rocks any more, they may speak to Barnabus Hurma to toggle them off if desired. They can be turned on again if the player wishes to start receiving them again.

Players are allowed to create only one statue per week. It is possible for the player to build the statue once and then go out and re-obtain all rocks in the same week and place all but the final set of rocks in the Museum statue prior to the expiration of the week. However, the player will be unable to complete the build of the 2nd statue because at that point (when attempting to place the final set), Barnabus Hurma will stop the player and state that "one explosion a week is enough."

Strange rocks are automatically kept upon death unless the player is in the Wilderness.

When trying to collect a strange rock by training skills, the player will hear a small "clunk" sound and receive the message "You find a strange rock." upon receiving one. When training a skill and a rock is received with a full inventory, the player receives the message "Something odd happens to the (name of last object created) and you are left with a strange rock." This effectively replaces the item in the player's inventory, which could be detrimental if it replaces something expensive. If the player has a statue collection bag (see below) in their inventory, however, the rock will be deposited directly into the bag without the loss of other inventory items.

Interestingly, it is possible for strange rocks to be dropped on the ground, given the correct conditions. A common example would be fletching bolts of any type, as multiple bolts are made in the process; if one's inventory is full, the strange rock will remove only one bolt from the inventory, and proceed to be dropped on the ground where it may be picked up.

## RewardsEdit

The player needs two rocks from each skill to complete the statue. When the player has collected two pieces in one skill, they can be added to the plinth in order to create a section of the Dahmaroc statue. The plinth is located in the Varrock Museum right next to the entrance.

After using a matched pair of strange rocks on the Statue plinth, the player gets $y = x^2 - 2x + 100$ where y = Experience earned and x = Skill level of the skill being trained when the rock is added to the statue.

For example, using a level of 50: Exp = 50*50 - (2*50) + 100 = 2500 experience. For level 99, it is 9703 exp. See Experience reward formula section for calculator and table.

Players can use a Statue list to keep track which rocks they've added to the statue. Players need to have two pieces to be able to add to the plinth.

Once a player complete the statue for the first time a player receives a replica plinth from Barnabus Hurma to put in the study in the player's POH (this is where players will be building their very own statue). Each time the player completes the Museum's statue they will receive an additional replica piece of statue to use for building the statue in their POH. The player can then begin to search and collect pieces again, which gives the ability to receive the extra experience once again. Because a player may only complete the Museum statue once per week, completion of the statue in their POH takes a minimum of 30 weeks, one for each statue piece received.

If the player completes the statue in their POH and continues to turn in their strange rocks, they will not receive another plinth, even if they have a second study room built. The player will, however, continue to receive the bonus experience for all strange rocks turned in.

## Icons and DescriptionsEdit

A player can identify what skill a strange rock is by examining it. Also, the different skills' rocks have different appearances.

Skill Image Examine How to obtain
Agility A rock found while practicing agility. Completion of the following courses:

Using either of the Sure foot Aura will help with rock collection by eliminating failure rate passing obstacles.

Construction A rock found while constructing furniture. Working on furniture or any construction activity that yields experience in the construction skill, including in building mode. Idling in house doesn't work since the update on 4 August 2010. Limestone fireplaces are highly recommended as limestone bricks can be aquired for 21 gp each at the stonemason in Keldagrim. If your house is in Rimmington, there are also clay rocks close by for unlimited clay fireplaces without the need to bank.
Cooking A rock found while cooking. Attempting to cook any fish which players have the Cooking level for. Players can still receive the rock even if they burn the fish. It is also possible to receive strange rocks while training at the barbecue in a clan citadel.
Crafting A rock found while crafting. Making gold jewellery (best is to make gold bracelets); making items from leather or dragonhide; making molten glass in a furnace (as well as blowing it into glass objects); throwing clay on a potter's wheel (but not firing clay); making slayer rings; making cloth on the loom at a clan citadel, spinning items on a spinning wheel, crafting any type of battlestaff, blowing Potion flasks

Crafting silver will not yield strange rocks.

Farming A rock found while harvesting produce. Harvesting/Planting vegetables, hops, herbs, flowers, bushes, fruit trees and calquat trees; planting seeds or saplings.

The fastest way to receive these rocks are to do a standard herb + allotment run using supercompost on every patch. Wield Magic Secateurs when harvesting. If players have completed the hard Falador Tasks, it is also advisable to plant White lilies at all flower patches to protect their allotments.

Firemaking A rock found while lighting fires. Lighting a fire using any logs and a tinderbox, as well as burning vines in Jadinko Lair, burning shades in Mort'ton, adding logs to a bonfire, and making charcoal at the kiln at a clan citadel.
Note: Pyrelord and Forge regent familiars do not count as a tinderbox for this. Also, barbarian firemaking does not yield rocks.
Fishing A rock fished up from the waters. Fishing with a harpoon, net, cage, fly fishing rod, or barehanded. Fishing Rocktails or Cavefish in the Living Rock Caverns. Fishing for salmon, trout and all three 'leaping' fishes does not work.

Note: It does not matter what kind of fish. A player has a chance to get a rock every animation.

Fletching A rock found while fletching bows, crossbows and sagaies. Making unstrung bows or crossbow stocks (though not when stringing bows). Making sagaie shafts and Blisterwood stakes can also yield rocks.
Herblore A rock found when making potions. Combining unfinished potions with secondary ingredients, including barbarian mixes; making unfinished potions; or by cleaning herbs.

It is strongly recommended to clean cheap herbs, such as marrentill, while having the statue collection bag in inventory. The Herblore rock can be one of the fastest rocks to obtain by using this method.

Hunter A rock found while hunting. Tracking; checking deadfall, box, or pit traps; checking Marasamaw plants; practising falconry; hunting Charm Sprites; putting Big Chinchompas to sleep. It can also be obtained by dismantling a trap, even if it is not a successful catch, as long as the trap has been triggered. Also, if a falcon fails to catch a kebbit, it may still return with the rock.
Mining A rock found while mining. Mining ore, coal, granite, clay, stone, gems or rune essence (strongly recommended); mining in the Living Rock Caverns (coal and gold; also strongly recommended), mining in Miscellania. Mining in the Lava Flow Mine also works, as well gathering resources at a clan citadel Mining plot.

Note: It does not matter what is mined. You have a chance to get a rock every animation. If a player's Mining level is high enough, it is strongly recommended to mine in the Living Rock Caverns on a designated LRC world since mining can be almost nonstop there.

Runecrafting A rock found while binding runes. Crafting runes, also during the Great Orb Project minigame and the Runespan. The Wicked hood is extremely helpful when going after these rocks. Bring along all owned runecrafting pouches as well. Generally, using the wicked hood method daily gives a high chance for at least one rock, particularly if the player has the full wicked robes set.

It is advised to fill runecrafting pouches, fill your inventory with one slot open, and empty your pouches so that essence is withdrawn one at a time since strange rocks are yielded per action.

Smithing A rock found while smithing. Smelting normal ores, including gold ore; smithing items from normal bars; making Cannonballs out of Steel bars; smelting bars at a Smithing plot in a clan citadel.
Activities that do not yield rocks: Superheating, working at the Artisans Workshop and smelting ores in the Blast Furnace

Note: It does not matter what is smithed, so if a player is on a budget, it is advisable to smith with cheap materials such as bronze bars.

Thieving A rock 'borrowed' from a pocket.

Attempting to pickpocket an NPC that a player has the Thieving level for (even if unsuccessful); stealing from stalls; stealing from chests. Master farmers are highly recommended due to their left-click pickpocket option and chance for good loot.

Knocking out and pickpocketing Menaphite Thugs but not Monkey knife fighters.

The Pyramid Plunder minigame will not yield strange rocks.

Woodcutting A rock found while cutting trees. Cutting any wood, ivy, Jadinko Lair roots, or jungle near Tai Bwo Wannai as well as training at the sawmill; training at a Woodcutting plot in a clan citadel. It is strongly recommended to chop ivy if a player has the appropriate level since there is almost no need to bank.

Note: It does not matter what you cut. You have a chance to get a rock every animation.

Note: Skilling in a clan citadel may yield strange rocks since an update on 6 March 2012.

## EquipmentEdit

No special equipment is required to collect strange rocks; however the player can talk to Barnabus Hurma (or any of the other archaeologists) within Varrock Museum to receive a statue collection bag. This bag will automatically store any statue pieces a player gains from a skill activity (giving the message "You find a strange rock and add it to your bag."), and can be filled with your library of rocks. When a player has two corresponding statue pieces in your bag, they may simply empty the bag and use the rocks on the statue base, or continue to collect further rocks until the bag is full - or anything in-between. The experience will be given at any time, until the last rock pair is ready, which can only be done once per week (see elsewhere this article). Thus, if a player needs that experience immediately to level, it can be received immediately. The player may also 'Look-in' the bag to check how many rocks have currently been collected. If the player loses or drops the statue collection bag, the contents will also be lost, requiring the player to complete skill tasks to regain the rocks that were lost.

A statue list can be used to keep track of the pieces already added and pieces remaining. Alternatively checking the statue of Dahmaroc in the museum will also show the list.

## TriviaEdit

• If a player has a pet rock in their inventory, a message is displayed showing its excitement when the player receives a strange rock.
• Certain rocks are easily identifiable as specific parts of Dahmaroc. For example, the Construction and Hunter rocks make up his head, the Smithing rocks make up his cape, and the rocks for Cooking, Fishing, Firemaking, and Woodcutting make up his arms.
• At one point, after receiving the first strange rock to start the Distraction and Diversion, members could also get rocks for non-member skills on a non-members world, which would result in the creation of a members object (although they would still receive the message "You find a strange rock."). This has since been fixed.
• Although the examine info for the Herblore rock says "A rock found while making potions", it can also be found when cleaning herbs. Similarly, the examine info for the Construction rock previously said "A rock found in my house" even though it could be obtained in another player's house by making flatpacks.
• It is possible, albeit rare, to get two rocks from one action (burning one log may result in receiving both rocks), although it seems more likely to get in an action that takes some time to perform, such as woodcutting or mining.
• Strangely, while practicing falconry, if a player just catches the kebbit you can get the strange rock, even before retrieving the falcon from the kebbit and collecting the reward.
• Prior to 11 April 2012 it wasn't possible to get a strange rock by fishing rocktails in Living Rock Caverns, making battlestaves, or making items on a spinning wheel.